Civic groups, trade unions and professional guilds have issued statements opposing the government’s reinterpretation of the pacifist Constitution to allow the exercise of the right to collective self-defense. Among them were the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and all the 52 local bar associations ...

South Korea called Tuesday on Japan to have “the maximum level of transparency” in implementing newly adopted principles and guidelines on arms exports, a sentiment echoed later in the day by China. “As a pacifist nation, Japan is expected to adhere to basic principles ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s reaction to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine will determine whether Asia’s top two economies come closer to a hostile incident. Xi’s options after Abe’s appearance Thursday at Yasukuni — the first by a sitting prime minister since ...

Although the U.S. had effectively urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to refrain from visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, he goes anyway, ensuring Japan's relations with China and South Korea will further sour.

The Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, board of education is bent on covering up negative aspects of Japan’s wartime history, as evidenced by its decision to have local elementary and junior high schools curb student access to the longtime iconic anti-war manga “Hadashi no Gen” (“Barefoot ...

Fukushima Prefecture residents expressed anxiety Monday after a power outage left three fuel storage pools without fresh cooling water for hours at the disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Masahide Matsumoto, mayor of Katsurao village, which was evacuated after the outbreak of the ...